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NHTSA Extends Oversight Of Fiat Chrysler Through To 2017

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is extending its oversight of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles for another year. The automaker will now be forced to submit early disclosures of potential vehicle problems to regulators and hold monthly meetings with the regulatory agency.

NHTSA fined FCA $105 million last summer after it mishandled the recall of two dozen recall campaigns that combined affected nearly 11 million vehicles. At the time, the agency said FCA broke laws in regards to automotive safety defects and kept it “in the dark,” by not advising it of potential problems in its cars.

In December of 2015, NHTSA fined FCA an additional $70 million for failing to properly report vehicle crash and injury data since 2003. NHTSA chief Mark Rosekind accused FCA of intentionally misleading regulators.

FCA has recalled a record number of vehicles over the past year for a variety of problems. Recently, the automaker was under the gun after Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin was killed when his Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled down his driveway and pinned him against a mailbox. The model featured an electronically-operated shifter that other consumers had complained was unintuitive and presented a rollaway risk. The automaker has since issued a fix for the electric shifter through a recall.

NHTSA’s extended oversight of FCA comes not long after it was criticized by the Department of Transportation for failing to properly investigate potential safety problems in cars and hold automakers accountable for their conduct. In May 2016, the agency also extended its oversight of General Motors through to 2017 following the automaker’s controversial 2014 ignition switch saga